The trainings to learn violin with Marie Leloup (only in French) :
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- OBJECTIF VIOLON Level 1 (to begin the violin)
- OBJECTIF VIOLON Level 2 (intermediate)
- READ THE MUSIC IN 30 DAYS (20% discount with code EVA20)
- 100% VIBRATO (20% discount with code EVA20)
- IMPROVE THANKS TO THE SCALES, for beginners (20% discount with code EVA20)
- IMPROVE THANKS TO THE SCALES 2, level intermediate – advanced (20% discount with code EVA20)
THE INTERVIEW with MARIE about LEARNING VIOLIN
Learning the Violin: Introduction
Eva:
Today I wanted to ask Marie for some information about what she does, because many of you regularly ask me how to start playing the violin, which violin to buy etc., and it is true that I do not offer anything in particular for beginners, neither on YouTube nor in my training. Whereas Marie does exactly this!
And what is great about what Marie does is that she offers to start the violin without necessarily going through classical music. Indeed some of you come to me with the desire to learn the violin but without necessarily going down the classical path, and I find that what Marie offers is perfectly suited to this type of learning.
‘Objectif violon’: training for violin beginners (only in French)
Marie:
Indeed, to start playing the violin I propose a great training which students can take over the course of several months; it’s accessible to people who don’t know music at all, who are really starting from scratch, but also for people who want to go back to the basics a little or who have stopped for a few years.
Eva:
I watched the beginning of your training and what I think is great is that as soon as we start, we just do open string “pizz” and everything immediately we make music, because we have an accompaniment with the guitar, and they are beautiful pieces.
Marie:
Yes, these are compositions, very simple things on which the guitarist has made arrangements so that it sounds pretty. The violin part is very easy for beginners to play easily, and it’s the accompaniment that makes it interesting.
Eva:
Do you also learn to read music along with playing the violin?
Marie:
Yes. I also propose a little method to learn to read or improve your reading of scores. It is offered with my training for beginners, and it is done in parallel. I think the best way to do this is to learn to read music at the same time you learn to play the instrument.
How to start learning the violin—or start again?
Eva:
What do you offer on your blog, on YouTube, for someone who would like to start the violin?
Marie:
On my blog and my YouTube channel there are plenty of tips and free courses for all levels. But if you are looking for real support, a method that is really step by step, then there is my training for beginners. It’s called “Objectif Violin.” I also offer smaller trainings on technical aspects in particular: two range trainings of different levels, one for beginners, one for intermediate students. I also offer more advanced training for violinists who have finished the first training, for intermediate level violinists, or for violinists who want to resume the violin after a long break.
Eva:
It’s interesting because I have a lot of people who come to me on the internet and who have stopped playing the violin for a while and want to resume but without going to the conservatory. So for people like this, do you propose your method “Objectif Violin Level 2”?
Marie:
Level 2, yes, that’s it.
Eva:
That’s good, because it’s certain that when you start playing the violin again after several years off, it’s not necessarily easy to go immediately into improvisation, because what I propose is improvisation. Even if you want to improvise, I think it’s important to also work on pieces that have already been written. This is something I don’t offer.
Free scores, playbacks on offer …
Eva:
On your blog and your YouTube channel, you also have a lot of tracks from the current repertoire?
Marie:
Yes. There are the sheet music on the blog, and there is also the guitar accompaniment on the YouTube channel that you can work with. All of this is free, it’s posted for free on the blog, accessible to everyone.
Buying a violin: how to choose?
Eva:
Several of you have also come to ask me which violin I would recommend for someone who wants to start playing the violin. I usually tell them “go to a luthier” because I don’t have a specific model to recommend, but Marie does!
Marie:
I also always recommend going to the luthier if you have the opportunity to do so, because it is still the best option. But I know there are many people who are intimidated to go a luthier when they have never touched a violin. There are also people who prefer to order online. In partnership with a luthier, I have put together a kind of pack that contains the violin, the bow, the case and all the accessories that are necessary to start. There are three categories of packs: a Value Pack, a Basic Pack, and a Premium Pack. I tried these violins, I tested them and I chose the best value for money. It’s quality hardware that’s reviewed and verified by a luthier, so you can get started right away.
To get more informations, check this LINK TO MARIE’S VIOLIN PACKS
Violin vibrato training
Eva:
I saw that you also had training in vibrato. It is also a subject that interests many violinists. When people come to me, obviously I teach my jazzy vibrato because I am in a jazzy color. But I didn’t do any training specifically to learn vibrato, the beautiful violin vibrato.
Marie:
I did a training on it. Vibrato is a technique that takes time. There are specific exercises that make it come more easily, with a nicer vibrato. I did a little training which is available on the blog, which is in three modules: a first module to find the right vibrato gesture, a second module to speed up the movement, and a third module to integrate vibrato into your playing violin.
Eva:
Once the exercises are done, it is not necessarily easy to integrate them; in this third module there are also pieces of repertoire students can use?
Marie:
There are no song scores; on the other hand I advise to work on the range. There are scale exercises to work on the sequence of notes with vibrato, to work on endurance in vibrato, this is what is often missing when you start. And then advice on how to start incorporating vibrato into songs.
To learn the violin, it’s important to get help, you go faster
Eva:
Below this video you will find the links of this training with Marie, with also a promo code on the occasion of this interview, to help you in your learning of the violin. It is an instrument that is not necessarily easy to learn, and we need help. We too were helped to learn the violin.
Marie:
It’s true, technique is still important. Even if we dream of improvising, playing pieces, and having fun, focusing on technique helps to consolidate your learning and it allows you to have even more fun.
Eva:
Yes, it is essential. What I also find very important is to go directly in the right direction. When you take lessons, when you get coached, it’s always a shortcut. If you get right into good habits, and everything will go much faster; what is very difficult is to get rid of bad habits, especially on the violin. Unlearning something wrong is very, very difficult; it takes much longer to unlearn and just relearn than to know right away where to go. It is really necessary to have a solid, stable violin technique from the start in order to then be able to start on the repertoire. You can do so many things with a fiddle: Irish music, fiddle, jazz, and of course the classical music repertoire. Just because you’re not going to the conservatory doesn’t mean you can’t study the classical music repertoire, which is still fantastic.
Marie:
I too have a classical education in violin. There are many people who claim classical music. Even people who follow me because they wanted something other than classical still want to work on classical from time to time
Eva:
Thank you. And see you soon
Marie:
See you soon.
Thanks to Pierre Bichon for the French transcription of the interview!
Thanks to Sage Harrington for the English edits of the translated text!